The Best of Texas

We had a winning weekend here at Malvern Books. Or, more precisely, we had a weekend of winners—the winners of the Texas Association of Authors’ third annual Book Awards Contest stopped by on Saturday and Sunday to read from their victorious works and answer questions from curious audience members. 

On Saturday afternoon, general fiction winner Myra Hargrave McIlvain (below left) read from Stein House, the story of early settlers in Matagorda Bay, Texas during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Multi-cultural fiction winner Jedah Mayberry (below right) read from The Unheralded King of Preston Plains Middle, an intriguing and thoughtful coming of age novel.

Myra McIlvain and Jedah Mayberry

Civil War historical fiction winner Robert Stevens (below left) read from Master Robert, a suspenseful account of plantation life during the War. And poetry winner R. Flowers Rivera (below right) read from Troubling Accents, an honest and accomplished collection that deserves to be widely read. 

Robert Stevens and R. Flowers Rivera

Check out the footage of Saturday’s readers below—and for a glimpse of Sunday’s equally impressive award-winners, be sure to take a look at these videos (via the Texas Association of Authors’ YouTube channel), in which the authors ponder the question, “Why do I write?” You can also visit us on Facebook for more photos from Saturday’s event. Congratulations to all these deserving winners, and thanks to y’all for sharing your wonderful work with us.